The macroeconomic impact of bank misconduct has deterred users of financial services from using the system, to the detriment of market integrity, and has prompted policymakers and supervisors to turn to "culture" as a tool to regain public trust. This paper addresses the definitional deficit on what "culture" is by exploring the illustrative case of cooperative banks. Read More
The paper deals with the mediating role of immaterial satisfaction between substantive organizational substantive features, defined as resources by on-the-job autonomy, involvement, teamwork and workload pressure, and organizational performance, defined in terms of improvements in product quality and innovation. Read More
Using household survey data from Ethiopia, this paper evaluates the impact of agricultural cooperatives on smallholders’ technical efficiency. We utilize propensity score matching to compare the average difference in technical efficiency between cooperative farmers and similar independent farmers. The approach assumes exogenous cooperative formation and similar farm technology across households. Read More
This paper shows how the Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa (MCC) group has managed to reconcile cooperative goals, the relationship with the local community and the necessary requirements of efficiency and competitiveness by adopting a peculiar organizational structure, in which cooperatives are grouped into sectoral divisions and coordinated by central bodies composed of the members themselves. Read More
The aim of this report is to assess the performance of rural banks in Trentino compared to an ideal model of a "good rural bank" by developing and applying an indicator system, in order to provide recommendations for improvement and optimization of banking practices. Read More
This paper aims to measure the technical efficiency of agricultural enterprises in Italy during the period 2003 – 2007 by applying a stochastic frontier analysis to panel data. The developed two-sectored model distinguishes between agricultural production function and non-agricultural production function. Read More